Trust me, I'm a Doctor
by Lucky T. Cloud
Summary: 5 words you don't want to hear from someone with a dubious medical license and a bad case of amnesia. A bunch of short snippets and random possibly interconnected stories.
1. Chapter 1

Combat-Aid

It was _supposed_ to be a fairly simple operation. Go in, grab the doctor, get the hell out. At least it was until Reunion decided to throw a wrench into the gears and decided that now of all times would be the best time to attack. Dobermann cursed as she whipped another Reunion goon, sending them flying into a group of them behind him.

"Hold the line! Push them back and don't let a single one through!" Her whip cracked through the air, wrapping around the arm of another soldier that had gotten close to her and with a shout she spun him around to deliver a kick to his back, sending him into another group of Reunion troops. There was a sudden cry of pain to her right and using the brief respite she got she turned to see a reunion soldier about to stab down with his sword on someone, a member of Rhodes Island down on the ground, clutching an injured arm. She was about to react when someone else beat her to it.

A crowbar of all things flew through the air, and be it a stroke of luck or an act of expert precision, smashed straight into the mask of the soldier, embedding itself sharp end first into it. Someone walked, not ran, walked, up and wrenched it off and kicked away the soldier. It was the Doctor, much to the shock of everyone present, Reunion included. He looked around awkwardly, coughed into his hand, and picked up the wounded operator with their free hand, slinging their uninjured arm over his shoulder.

"I'll take care of the wounded operators in the back line. Uh..." He looked at Dobermann and awkwardly flashed her a thumbs up with the hand holding the crowbar. "Good job. Keep at it." Dobermann could only nod in response, not really knowing what else to do. Satisfied he nodded back and began to half-drag the wounded operator to the back, where there were already several others being treated for injuries. It occurred to her that those wounded were from the ones guarding their flanks. It also occurred to her that there were considerably less Reunion forces surrounding them compared to when they started fighting. Amiya trotted up to her, firing off her Arts and nailing one of the last few Reunion troops that hadn't retreated.

"Instructor Dobermann, the Doctor has helped take care of the enemies on the flanks. We can continue moving now" She noticed Dobermann's look of disbelief and chuckled weakly. "The Doctor didn't want to just sit down and throw orders around, so he grabbed the closest weapon he could get his hands on and started protecting and dragging away the wounded" Dobermann blinked, then blinked again, then sighed, palming her forehead.

"While I do appreciate his enthusiasm I suggest you remind the Doctor of his importance to Rhodes Island as a whole and that he should take care not to do such risky things in the future." She looked over to where the Doctor was, helping treat the ones that only required first aid while the medics handled the more serious cases. Amiya followed her gaze and smiled, shaking her head.

"I already did. And he replied with-"

"I wouldn't be much of a leader with no one left to lead now would I?"

Dobermann shook her head, though despite that she smiled approvingly as she saw the Doctor comfort one of the more grievously wounded operators while the medics did their work on them. From where they stood the Doctor seemed to say something to encourage the operator and found the strength to smile back despite the pain. It was heartening to see in the midst of all the chaos that the doctor was taking the time to take care of and look after his subordinates. It was a stark contrast to his previous behavior.

Then his head snapped to something in the distance and his hand reached for his crowbar. Faster than they could see it went flying and smashed into a drone with a gun mounted on it flying overhead. It wobbled and fell to the ground pathetically. He stood up, his stance different, almost familiar. But with a certain sense of duty to it that set it apart from his past self in the eyes of those who knew him before.

"Gather the wounded, we need to keep moving but we don't want to leave them to die. Ace, take some men with you and be the rear guard. Nearl take point, we'll rely on you to take the brunt of the fighting when it comes to it" The people around him nodded, moving to do as they were ordered, The Doctor walked over to the downed drown to pry his crowbar from its broken chassis. He turned to Dobermann with a nod.

"Dobermann, lead the way. Your the one in charge of them to begin with" At that Dobermann's smile widened and she turned around, barking orders and shouting those not wounded into action. Amiya turned to the doctor with a warm, approving smile.

"Welcome back... Doctor"

* * *

**Wanted to do something Arknights related cause it's caught me in its clutches and now I cannot escape. The silly stuff will come next chapter. This was just a pseudo intro of sorts. If anyone read this then I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't well that's another thing I failed at. **

**My id is Lucas#7589 for anyone curious enough to send a friend request in AK. Good luck to y'all and may the Gacha Gods be generous.**


	2. Chapter 2

Materials

"Fang, I've been wondering about this for a while now…"

"What is it now Kroos?"

Fang gave her lazy team member a half-annoyed glance, taking a short break from their work putting together gold bars in the factory for trading. Kroos in turn raised up one of the gold bars she'd just finished putting together and waved it curiously.

"Where do they get the materials to make these?"

Fang opened her mouth, about to answer, and shut it just as quick. Unable to find a proper answer.

"Y-you know what I'm confused about that too…" She put a hand to her chin, stroking it in thought as she stared down a pile of gold bars in front of her. Kroos placed the bar she held down on the pile next to her and leaned forward, propping up her elbows on the table.

"Reeeaally makes you think hmm?" Kroos hummed, tilting her head towards the pile again. Fang hummed in agreement, then shook her head.

"Okay, I think we can leave the question of where we get the materials for these for another time. We still have quite a few left to make today." With that said Fang got back to work, prompting Kroos to pout and grumble as she got back to work as well.

Things were quiet for a time. The only sound being the machinery and the occasional hum from Kroos as they worked. Then the door to the factory opened and in came Rangers, followed by Noir Corne pulling along a cart filled with things the girls couldn't quite make out from where they stood. Rangers waved at them lazily in greeting.

"Ah, you girls are on factory duty today? Don't mind us. We're just delivering the materials for production" He motioned for Noir Corne to move and he obliged, pushing the cart and tipping its contents over into a vent leading into one of the machines. Fang could just barely make out the contents being dumped in. Among them were what looked like miscellaneous pieces of ore and minerals mixed with… oddly familiar looking equipment.

"Rangers, forgive me for asking but… where did you get these… materials… from?"

He hummed in response, Noir Corne emptying the last bits into the vent and pulled the cart away, wheeling it out the door they came from.

"Well we get them from wherever we can. Ore deposits, mines, scrap materials we come across in our patrols…" Noir returned, this time with another cart. Fang could more clearly make out the contents of it now. Broken weapons and equipment mixed in with rocks of varying sizes. "Though as of late, with the recent skirmishes we've been part of and the return of the Doctor, we've been grabbing things the Doctor has deemed useful enough and fitting enough to be used for production" Noir tipped over the contents of the cart and a cracked and broken mask bumped against the edge of the vent, rolling on the floor and stopping at Rangers feet. He picked it up, turning it over in his hand. "Such things also included whatever we could scavenge from Reunion soldiers we happen to dispatch. Disrespectful, true, but nonetheless necessary to secure a steady source of income for us" He tossed the mask behind him, Noir catching it with ease and throwing it into the vent.

"Welp, that's the last of what we managed to gather today. Who was gonna send the report to the Doctor again?" Noir mumbled, setting the cart straight and stretching out his arms. Rangers held his hands behind him, turning around and heading to the door.

"I believe its my turn today. You can go on and take a break Noir Corne" Noir pumped his fist, pulling the cart behind him as he followed Rangers out the door they came from.

As the door closed behind the two there was once again silence, Fang exchanging looks with Kroos as well as looking at the machine pumping out the gold bars, churning them out at a steady pace. Fang looked down at the bars before her, thinking about the fact that these could've been made from materials looted from the corpses of their enemies, and gulped. She looked at Kroos, who was examining another gold bar.

"So, that's that question answered. Are you happy now?" She asked, feeling slightly annoyed. Kroos hummed, smiling in a way that disturbed Fang slightly, and let the bar drop back down onto the conveyor.

"Yup! If anything I feel like factory duty's become muuuuch more fun~"

Kroos began humming a disturbingly happy tune, not at all noticing the disturbed look on Fang's face. The Kuranta returned to her work, keeping her mind off of the slightly horrific knowledge she'd learned today and the concerning behavior her team member and friend just showed.

Music

Frostleaf had knew that she was a tolerant person. Able to keep her cool even under the most dire of circumstances. She also knew she had limits. Limits which were quickly being tested as she and her fellow Vulpo, Perfumer, sat in their dorm enduring an ear shatteringly loud session of what Zima referred to as "Ursus Style Recreational Time".

By that she meant blasting extremely bass boosted "Cheeki Breeki" Hardbass from her Boombox. Perfumer was already on the edge, rocking back and forth from where she sat next to Frostleaf while clutching her staff like a security blanket and leaning on Frostleaf's shoulder for some form of comfort. Frostleaf turned her gaze over to Zima's fellow Ursus, Istina and Gummy, who seemed largely unaffected by the noise. Over the din of the song repeating for the 5th time now she shouted at Istina.

"HOW DO YOU PEOPLE DEAL WITH THIS!?"

Unsurprisingly, Istina didn't seem to notice and Gummy was blissfully sleeping away the noise. Groaning, Frostleaf got up and walked over to the pair, leaving Perfumer to fall over, her posture unchanging, curled up on the floor in a fetal position and twitching from the noise. She stopped next to Istina and tapped her on the shoulder, prompting the demure, teal-haired girl to look at her.

"How do you two even deal with this!?" She said, a little bit quieter than before. Istina looked at her for a moment, blinking slowly as if trying to comprehend what she said. Then she had a moment of realization, turning around to reach for something behind her and held out something in her hands for Frostleaf to take.

A pair of normal looking earplugs innocently sat in her hands, an extra pair for Perfumer there as well. Frostleaf reluctantly picked them up, wondering how a simple pair of earplugs would be able to block out the noise.

"Heavy-duty earplugs. Better at noise cancellation than cheaper mass produced ones." Istina said with a matter-of-fact tone, Frostleaf somehow hearing her over the sound of Zima loudly cursing as she tripped over a stool and crashed to the ground face first, the music still blaring.

The Vulpo gave her a skeptical look, eyeing the earplugs with much the same before shrugging and putting them in her ears.

Suddenly, she was met with blissful, sweet, silence. A jarring, but welcome change from before. She sighed in relief, flashing Istina a thumbs up and saying what she thinks is a thank you. Istina simply nods at her before going back to her book, flipping the page casually. Frostleaf returned to Perfumer, lifting her head to plug in the earplugs and watching as the girl slowly uncoiled from her position, looking around wildly until her gaze settled on Frostleaf. She leaped at the girl, hugging her and crying thanks as Frostleaf sighed, patting the girls back.

Idly she wondered what exactly the Doctor was thinking, dumping them in here with the Ursus students, and made a note to lodge a complaint directly towards him the next time she could.

Food

"What… Happened here?"

The Doctor stared at the Cafeteria, usually a fairly loud and lively place, now a desolate wasteland of bodies and food. Tables were overturned, glass was broken, and operators lay in varying states of distress and filth.

Matterhorn was laid out across a kitchen counter, his face and upper body splattered with tomatoes and a slice of ham impaled on one of his horns. On the floor next to the counter lay Courier, laid out on his back, his face covered by a bowl of mashed potatoes and his hand stuck inside of a full roast turkey.

Catapult lay against an overturned table, half covered in gravy and with a cob of corn embedded into the table next to her head, Midnight on one knee next to her, his hair drenched in soup.

"Catapult! Stay with me!"

"I'm sorry my friend… but… it's my time…" She fell to the side, into Midnight's arms, limp. The long haired man grit his teeth, looking up the heavens with a dramatic cry.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

Ignoring the overly dramatic duo the Doctor scanned the rest of the Cafeteria, seeing the extent of the damage done by… whatever it is that happened here.

"Did… did we get attacked?"

"No, we didn't" A voice from his side made him yelp quietly, seeing Kal'tsit come to a stop next to him, surveying the area as well. She narrowed her eyes, picking out certain individuals among the bodies scattered around the place.

"Popukar, Catapult, Midnight, Kroos" She called them out one by one, looking to where each of them lay in the room. Popukar popped out of a pile of vegetables and food trays, Catapult and Midnight stopped being dramatic, standing up immediately and at attention and Kroos slowly sat up from where she had fallen over Lava and Fang. "The four of you, clean-up duty. Now". With almost visible fear in their eyes, sans Kroos, the four of them rushed to the nearest janitorial closet, Kroos lazily skipping along behind them, chewing on an undamaged apple she'd picked up at some point. Kal'tsit regarded the rest of the Cafeteria.

"The rest of you, get up and clean yourselves up already" Slowly, everyone began to do exactly that. As the Doctor watched Beagle wipe off the remains of a pancake pile from Gavial's tail and Myrtle desperately try to pull a still sleeping Durin out of a pile of fruits he heard Kal'tsit sigh and he chuckled.

"You almost sound like a mother dealing with them" Kal'tsit seemed to freeze up when he said that, her sudden shift in mood noticed by The Doctor. "Dr. Kal'tsit? Is something wrong?" He almost reached over to her, his hand about to touch her shoulder. She turned, casually batting away his hand before he could.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong… although thinking about it now, your description is unnervingly accurate" She said, looking over her shoulder as the rest of the operators in the Cafeteria rose up, Matterhorn sitting on a bench as he toweled off the tomatoes from his face and Courier did the same for the mashed potatoes on his. She turned away, walking back down the hall. "Your free to do whatever you want. Assist them or not, there aren't any major operations or troubling developments today. So consider this a day off of sorts, Doctor"

As she walked away, The Doctor could've sworn he saw the hints of some kind of emotion on her face. But she had moved too quickly for him to really get a closer look at it. Filing it away for another time, he moved to assist one of the regular guard operators that was involved in the mess, the poor sarkaz with his googles caked in mayonnaise struggling to get stable footing as he slipped up on the various condiments on the floor. He'd figure out what exactly Kal'tsit was keeping from him eventually, but right now he needed to make sure this poor guy didn't hurt himself slipping around in all that sauce.

Self-Defense

"He's about to get into the objective point!" Amiya shouted, firing blasts of her arts at a Reunion Defender locked in combat with Beagle. Slipping by the Perro defender was a shielded Reunion Soldier. Amiya was only able to hit his shield, knocking it out of his hands, before he slipped into the objective point. "Doctor! Please be safe!" she shouted, hoping that he'd heard her, unable to do much else while still locked in combat with the rest of Reunion's forces coming down the path.

Out of view, the Reunion soldier gave a quiet cheer as he stepped past the objective point, readying his blade and holding it with both hands as he stalked around, rounding the corner behind the tall outcropping of rock where the scouts had spotted The infamous Doctor hiding and giving out orders to the operators of Rhodes. He thought sadistically of killing him, dashing the hopes of Rhodes Islands operators and getting revenge for all of his fallen comrades. A voice behind one of the rocks drew his attention.

"Uuuuh… Doctor, I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry Jessica, it's fine. You did well out there"

He drew his blade, rounding the corner and raising it over his head, shouting a war cry.

He had a half second to realize that The Doctor he was targeting had something in his hand and was pointing it at him. The rest of that second was spent realizing that the Doctor had a shotgun in his hands. In the next second, he was down on the ground, his midsection missing several chunks as the shotgun blast at near point blank range blew them off messily.

Jessica quailed slightly at the gory display. While used to seeing corpses and even killing others she was more used to the quicker, cleaner method of using her pistol, not the gory and brutal sight of seeing someone use a shotgun at near point blank range.

"I figured it was the right call to ask Executor for a spare shotgun…" He placed the smoking gun on the ground next to him, within easy reach should another reunion soldier show up past the objective point. He gave Jessica an apologetic look, getting back to treating her injuries. "Sorry about that Jessica, but a weapon like this is perfect for me in case I need to defend myself. Or at least, that's what Executor told me" Jessica thought back on the intimidating and stoic Sankta she'd seen around Rhodes Island, the angel going about his day at an almost mechanical pace. She could definitely see him saying something like that to the Doctor while non-chalantly handing him said weapon.

"Doctor! Another one has breached the Objective Point!" Amiya's shout came. Both of them could hear it. They also heard the Reunion soldier cry out in shock at the corpse of his friend next to the rock Jessica and the Doctor hid behind.

"Crap. Sorry Jessica but I need to handle this one first" He tied off her bandage, finished with treating the injury the crossbow bolt had done to her arm, and picked up the shotgun next to him, standing up and working the lever to eject the spent shell as he walked out from behind the rock. Jessica idly wondered, as she saw him unload a shot into the shield of the reunion soldier and proceed to beat him down senseless with a crowbar while he was recovering from the shot, how someone who was primarily a tactician was surprisingly skilled at fighting.

* * *

**I'm on a roll tonight. So I figured SCREW IT LETS KEEP GOING.**

**But really I'm just doing this to take my mind off of my shit rolls in Arknights. 40+ rolls. No Nian. Only 3 Hung's and an Aak.**

**I'm half tempted to ask Aak to shoot me up with that syringe gun of his to numb/end the pain.**

**Anyway, I wish y'all good luck with your roles. I hope to god their better than mine. **

**Peace**


	3. Chapter 3

Trip

"Doctor! Look over there! It's the sea!" Cuora shouted, the girl leaning out the side of the van they were riding to point at the vast expanse of water stretching out for miles from the coast. The Doctor smiled under his mask, staring out the window to look at the sight, the water almost seeming to shine under the summer sun.

After the recent series of successful operations and the slow-down of Reunion activity with the coming of the warmer season, The Doctor asked Kal'tsit if it was possible for a vacation of some sorts for their Operators as a reward for all their hard work. Kal'tsit had thought long and hard about it, pestered constantly by the Doctor, but eventually she relented and allowed for it, even mentioning that the Obsidian Festival was happening in Siesta and that it would be a good spot for it.

Skip ahead some time and now here they were, practically a small convoy of operators accompanying him to the place. Kalt'sit had opted to stay behind with some other operators that opted out of taking the vacation, instead choosing to either continue their work or relax at Rhodes.

As they got out of the vans, The Doctor put his hands on his hips, looking over the others as they got their belongings out of the vehicles. Provence hummed as Skyfire nagged at her about the sensitivity of her measurement equipment, Silverash somehow still looked intimidating as always despite wearing shorts, sandals and a more loose, short-sleeved white shirt and sunglasses, Matterhorn and Courier smiled while carrying suitcases and duffel bags as Cliffheart excitedly chattered about with Pramanix. Amiya carried a bag of her own, looking adorable in her summer clothes and hat as she waved at the Doctor. He waved back, gaze sweeping over the rest of the operators that came with him.

It was shaping up to, at the very least, be an interesting vacation.

"Hey! Doctor! Doctor! Isn't that big man over there in the armor someone from Reunion?" Cuora asked curiously, pulling at the Doctor's arm like an excited child.

She was, in fact, correct. There was a tall man in an EOD suit walking around in the sweltering heat like it was nothing, no one even remotely minding the blatant Reunion markings on it.

The Doctor sighed, seeing the other operators tense up at the sight of it. An Interesting vacation indeed.

* * *

Beach

Aside from earlier altercations with other beach goers, the vacation was proving to be somewhat successful. Silverash and his group went off to enjoy the water, sans Silverash himself that is. Who was now buried up to his neck by his sisters and encouraging Cliffheart and Courier to make the castle she was building over his head to be "As opulent and majestic as possible". Red went off with Cuora carrying a floatie, last he'd seen them Cuora was swimming at near blinding speeds while pushing along Red in her floatie, clinging on to it for dear life.

Team A6 and A4 were having a volleyball match, Cardigan having the unfortunate habit of running off with the ball whenever she caught it and turning it into a game of tag each time. He waved at Orchid and Melantha, looking fondly exasperated and concerned at their teams respectively before they waved back at him.

It was practically a picture-perfect vacation at that point. With musical performances scattered across the beach and plenty of other sights to see beyond that there was little that could ruin things.

At least, until the Doctor ran into a liberi girl carrying a parasol and being chased by some of the most stereotypical thuggish looking men in black suits he'd ever seen.

* * *

Breach

"Okay, like we said Doctor. You kick in the door and I shout 'FBI OPEN UP!'. Got it?" Vigna said, holding her trident at the ready. The Doctor nodded, standing in front of the door. Beside them stood Jessica, Liskarm and Franka, having been taken along for this part of the operation. Vigna smiled, nodding and getting ready. "Alright, on three. One. Two… THREE!"

Suddenly, the occupants of the room about to be breached were greeted with a boot through the door.

Literally. The Doctor's boot hadn't done its intended job of kicking the door open. Instead, it had torn through the oak wood door like it was paper and left them all in an awkward position. The Doctor pulled his foot back out with some slight difficulty, brushing off splinters from his pant sleeve and rearing back his boot for another go. "Alright, let me take another try at that-" and before Liskarm or the others could say anything the Doctor had already put his boot to the door again. The results were the same, but at a higher position than the last hole he left. He pulled his foot back again, groaning. "Alright. One last-" but before he could even get ready to do it for a third time Franka rolled her eyes, walked past Jessica and Liskarm and proceeded to roundhouse kick the door, the heel of her boot just barely slipping by the Doctor's mask.

The combined punishment from The Doctor's botched kicks and Franka's finishing blow were enough to completely knock the door off its hinges and into one of the unfortunate occupants that were standing too close to it. After a short pause, punctuated by Franka strutting into the room with her sword at the ready by her side like she hadn't just casually kicked the door clean off the frame, she stopped and stood in the middle of it, staring at the remaining thugs inside. She threw a look over her shoulder at Vigna, who was staring at her in admiration. "Well? Your line?" she said. Vigna, excited, ran into the room while also kicking aside the door as the thug behind it attempted to push it off himself. The force of the impact was enough to knock him out this time.

"FBI OPEN UP!"

Suffice to say, with all of those combined, the thugs inside surrendered without much conflict for fear of getting brutally kicked down by either the Vulpo, the impish Sarkaz or the dopey looking masked man standing outside the door.

* * *

Solution

It was a big, nearly disastrous problem with a surprisingly simple solution that the doctor had come up with on the fly. Albeit, it was stupid, insane, and had astronomically low chances of working. But it did.

"Doctor"

"Yes, Ceylon?"

"I… have heard stories about your tactical prowess and ability for unorthodox strategies but…"

"But what?"

"I don't think I've ever heard of stopping a volcanic originium slug about to cause a catastrophe by blasting it with several industrial strength water hoses"

At the base of the volcano, where they had stopped the giant originium slug called Pompeii, everyone was soaking wet. Through some quick, desperate thinking, no small amount of bribery and some stealing of public property the Doctor had managed to "Requisition" several firetrucks and other firefighting/construction equipment with the help of Rope and a very, very determined Schwarz. With that they managed to, at the very least, temporarily stop a catastrophe from happening by dousing the source with gratuitous amounts of water. Shaw marched up to the Doctor, soaked to the bone and shivering despite her firefighting equipment.

"Thefirehasbeenputout. Chief,whatdowedonow?" She fired off in her usual machinegun chatter, saluting. Skyfire stood slackjawed off to the side, Eyja still listing off the readings of the volcano to her and noting how it had calmed down considerably after they'd pacified Pompeii. Provence stood next to her with her hands on her hips, shaking her head in amusement and disbelief.

"We just stopped a plot to bring about a Catastrophe by a corrupt politician, and then proceeded to stop the same Catastrophe from ever happening. By hosing it down like a common bushfire. Huh" As she said that the originium slug seemed to groan, its fire long gone out and too tired to struggle. Eyja expressed some concern over the thing, saying that it sounded "Sad" somehow. Skyfire's slackjawed expression somehow got even more disbelieving as she looked between Eyja's video feed and the giant, boulder sized originium slug that was about to cause a volcanic eruption less than an hour ago, and threw her hands up, turning around and walking away.

"Screw it! I'm stepping away from this insanity for a bit. I'm going to go enjoy what's left of my vacation here while I can" Skyfire sounding both tired and resigned. Provence laughed aloud, slapping her thigh as she followed behind her, waving back at the Doctor as they left the clearing.

"Skyfire's probably going to go grab a few drinks to deal with this so I'm going to stay with her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. We'll see ya around, Doctor!"

As the two left, Shaw and Ceylon both looked at the Doctor questioningly, the other Operators part of this little operation getting more curious about the massive slug. Cuora even began lightly poking at it with the tip of her bat, the creature unresponsive beyond some resigned rumbling. Then she climbed on top of the slug, sitting down on it and causing it to jiggle.

"Doctor! Can we keep it as a pet? We can make it like a mascot!" She called out from atop the thing. She was quickly joined by Ifrit and Red the three starting to hop on it like like a trampoline. Nervously, the Doctor chuckled. Faintly wondering how he would explain to Kal'tsit why they'd brought back a giant originium slug as a pet.


	4. Chapter 4

Explanation

"You have ten seconds to explain"

Kal'tsit tapped her foot against the tiled floor impatiently, her arms crossed and a deathly annoyed look in her eyes that sent a spike of fear down The Doctor's spine. He gulped, raising a finger to respond.

"W-well, you see Kal'tsit-"

"Five seconds"

"Okay now you're being unreasonable"

In response, Kal'tsit raised a single eyebrow.

"Me? Unreasonable? Tell me Doctor, who's idea was it to bring a MASSIVE VOLCANIC ORIGINIUM SLUG back here to Rhodes Island as A GOD DAMNED PET!?" She half-shouted, her expression only minutely twisting into a snarl and a glare and her tone only slightly raising above its normal chiding monotone. Even still, the Doctor shrunk back from the sheer malice injected into her statement. Nervously, he gulped and tried to explain.

"W-well, it's not like we could've just left it there at Siesta where someone could use it to cause _another_ Catastrophe, and we have all the equipment needed to monitor and sedate him here thanks to Eyjafjalla, so it seemed… reasonable… at the time?" His sentence petered out towards the end, feeling Kal'tsit's glare intensify as he wilted out of fear. For a long moment Kalt'sit stared him down, as if trying to burn a hole through his skull with looks alone. That moment was interrupted when Eyja passed by the open door to Kal'tsit's office holding a collar, stopping when she noticed the Doctor out of the corner of her eye.

"Ah! Doctor! I was just looking for you! I was just about to take Pompeii out for a walk and wanted to ask if you'd like to come along?" She walked into the room, pausing for a second when she noticed Kal'tsit but remaining oblivious to the oppressive air she was coating the room in. "Oh! Dr. Kal'tsit! Good morning to you too, thank you again for letting the Doctor take everyone on that vacation to Siesta, now with Pompeii around getting volcanic originium crystal samples is far safer than before!" she finished with a smile, her sunny disposition practically pushing away the oppressive darkness Kal'tsit was exuding just seconds before. With a sigh and a rub of her temples Kal'tsit shook her head.

"Fine, you get a pass for now, Doctor. But next time perhaps you can consult me on matters like this **before** you make a decision. Do I make myself clear?" She finished with a piercing glare at the Doctor, rooting him in place. He nodded stiffly, instinctual fear taking hold of him as he waited for her response. Kal'tsit nodded, still annoyed but satisfied now. "Good, now go, this is your responsibility now and if you think you're going to get out of it with excuses of 'Paperwork' you are dead wrong".

The Doctor didn't waste any more time and moved after she finished her sentence, walking out of the room with Eyja and Pompeii in tow while the young volcanologist asked him why he was sweating so much. The Feline doctor spent a moment staying silent, waiting for their footsteps and the sound of the giant originium slug's movement to fade out of earshot before sighing again, looking out the window of her office and at the rolling landscape that Rhodes Island passed through at a slow, steady pace.

"Still as unreasonable as always, amnesia be damned… almost like you'd never become the monster you'd turned yourself into…"

Car

Recently, Kal'tsit had tasked the Doctor her with going off to meet clients, those in need of the help Rhodes can provide and others that she deems she might need his help in dealing with. He didn't quite understand what help he offered beyond being there as moral support for her but she seemed to be insistent on it at times, so he had no choice but to come along. Sometimes he'd go with her, other times she'd go there first and he'd be escorted over by an Operator in some way. Today, Executor was on escort duty.

"Executor, I have some concerns about this situation"

The Doctor sat in the passenger seat of a car next to Executor, who was driving it. Said Sankta made a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement as he drove, steely expression unchanging as he spun the car into a wicked near 180 degree turn to drive down a narrow side-path, usually unused by most drivers due to how cramped it was.

"I know that Kal'tsit said to get me to the meeting spot at all costs and on-time and all that-" His words were cut off when Executor spun the steering wheel again, sending the car into another brutal turn that had the Doctor thanking the quality of the seatbelts he was gripping for dear life now. "-But I don't think she meant that it so seriously that you'd need to ignore EVERY LAW ON THE ROAD-" his shout was cut off abruptly and turned into a scream as Executor pulled another turn, driving the car through some railing and off the edge of an overlook.

Kal'tsit then decided, as Executor crashed the car into the fountain of the park she stood in with her client waiting for the Doctor to arrive, that she should pick out more "Sane" operators to handle transporting the Doctor. While Executor pulled the unconscious Doctor out of the wreckage of the car she rubbed her temples in frustration. At least it seemed like their newest client was more willing to negotiate now.

Self-Defense 2

A group of Reunion troopers ran past the defensive line held by Rhodes operators, slipping by while they were too busy fighting off the rest of their forces. A soldier captain, a pair of defenders and a crossbowman huddled together as they passed the objective point, the captain speaking to the others.

"Alright, according to our reports the Doctor is apparently arming himself to protect against our attacks when we manage to slip through their defensive line. We've already lost too many of our brothers to this surprise but now that we know about it we'll be prepared. Nothing can stop us from cutting the head off the snake now!" they all raised their fists, cheering. With a determined nod to each other they got up and started moving, heading towards their target with the resolution to finally end the bloody conflict they'd started. They rounded a corner, seeing the Doctor sitting on a concrete slab and worriedly looking over a display showing the battlegrounds, unaware of their presence. The Soldier Captain chuckled to himself, thinking this would be too easy. He took a step forward-

*click*

And promptly triggered a tripwire that detonated a set of hanging claymores oriented to face downwards, the explosives detonating and raining the metal ball bearings down at them.

The Doctor looked up from the display, looking around confused until something rolled over and bumped against his foot. He looked down, seeing the Reunion faceplate rolling to a stop a few inches away from his foot and followed its trail up to the pile of decapitated and perforated corpses laying in a pile. He winced, turned back to the display and spoke into the communicator.

"Executor, thanks for setting up those traps, they worked perfectly." He received a grunt of acknowledgement in response, followed by the roar shotgun fire that came when Executor pulled out his other shotgun and started unloading on the Reunion forces he faced. The Doctor sighed, kicking away the mask and focusing back on the battlefield. He wasn't the best yet, nowhere near back to what he was like tactics skill-wise before he got amnesia, but he hoped that one day he'd reach that point and beyond so that his Operators wouldn't have to worry about defending him if or when he failed in deploying them properly on the field.

Idly he noticed another reunion trooper get past the objective point, scream in terror at the sight of his ally's corpses and charge at the Doctor in a blind rage. In his charge, he failed to notice the _second_ tripwire that then deployed a modified bouncing betty mine that blew up in his face. The Doctor glanced at the grisly sight, shuddered at the mangled remains and returned his attention to the battlefield, mentally noting that he really needed to thank Executor for all his assistance recently. The Stoic Sankta was an almost literal Almighty-sent Blessing sometimes.

Fire Hazard

The Doctor walked down the halls of Rhodes Island, slowing his pace so that the positively tiny firefighter walking with him didn't struggle to keep up too much.

"Care to start filling me in on your report while we walk Shaw?" He had to look down quite a bit to see the girl, her short stature making it difficult to hold a conversation. The squirrel shifted through the papers on the clipboard she carried, flipping through the pages until she found the one she was looking for.

"Wellchief, thisweekalonehasresultedinapproximately25differentfire-relatedincidents, thanksinnosmallparttothenumberoffire-wieldingoperatorswehaveonstaff" She fired off in her usual machine-gun chatter. Normal people would struggle to keep up with her quick speech but by this point the Doctor had grown so used to it he had no trouble understanding it.

"I see, I could've sworn I'd already told Skyfire and the others to at least tone down or have more control over their usage of fire." He sighed, thinking back on the multiple accounts where Skyfire had accidentally exposed herself in public due to her rampant fire arts. Or the times when Ifrit had gotten agitated enough to burn things around her. Or the times when Lava had used her arts to escape her sister's attempts at feeding her her "Cooking".

The Doctor shuddered at the last memory, not able to blame the purple-haired sarkaz for resorting to such things, knowing just how much of a disaster her sister's attempts at "Cooking" were. Shaw's voice quickly snapped him out of his reverie before he could delve deeper into that particularly traumatizing set of memories.

"ChiefIdon'tthinksimplewarningswillbeenoughtomakethemcurbtheirtendenciestosetthingsablaze" The Doctor shook his head, sighed and could only nod in agreement with the girl.

"True, but Shaw you understand that the best we can do is react when things like this happen, it's not like its entirely that easy for them to control their arts at times. For some like Skyfire and Ifrit, their arts are far more volatile than others. Far more difficult to keep under control"

"WhataboutthetimesLavausedherFireArtstoattemptescapesfromhersister?"

"… Okay on that front perhaps more than just a stern warning is in order, and not just for Lava herself." The Squirrel sighed in response, flipping through the pages of her clipboard once more.

"Isupposethatanythingisbetterthannothingatthispoint" The Doctor felt a little guilty, sad that he couldn't really offer to help more than this due to his lack of expertise on the matter of Arts usage.

"Anything else to report on Shaw?" He asked, curious what else she might've thought to bring up to him and trying to shift the topic. She flipped through a few more pages, stopping on one that held a complicated diagram of one of the buildings on Rhodes.

"Well, we'verecentlyfinishedtheadditionofanewfiresuppressionsystemforuseinemergencies. Ithasafarfasterreactiontimeanditswaterdispersionisataratethatsroughlytwiceaseffectiveastheoldone-"

Then before Shaw could continue the doorway in front of them exploded off its hinges, a terrified looking Lava jumping through the smoking entrance and running away silently as Hibiscus came walking through the smoke like some kind of demon summoned from the abyss. Following that, as if to prove Shaw's point, the fire suppression system also went off, showering everyone in the corridor with water. That did not deter or stop Hibiscus from chasing down her sister to feed her more of her obscene excuses for cooking. The two stood in silence, the only sounds being the fire alarm, the water sprinklers going off and the sound of the rest of Hibiscus and Lava's team complaining about the impromptu shower. The Doctor coughed awkwardly into his hand, ignoring the water washing over his mask.

"Well… at least the new fire suppression system works?"


	5. Chapter 5

**EDIT: SO APPARENTLY SOMETHING SCREWED WITH MY WIFI AND THIS THING WOULDN'T UPLOAD PROPERLY SORRY 'BOUT THAT FOLKS**

* * *

Requisition

It was a question on the minds of many operators that knew him, including that of the Doctor's, just how Executor procured the ordinance he could bring to bear when out on missions. Whether it was the modified shells he loaded into his shotguns that allowed him to tear through even groups of Defenders with ease or the numerous high explosives he set as traps for Reunion forces that managed to slip by their defensive line and attempt to attack the Doctor, he never seemed to run out of them. Today the Doctor broached the question to him as the man's secretarial duty to him was about to end.

"My weapons? What about them, Doctor?" The stoic man asked, expression unchanging. He held in his hands a clipboard with checkmarks on a list the Doctor couldn't quite make out from where he was sitting.

"I was curious about where exactly you got the… munitions… for them all the time. It's almost like you have an infinite supply of them" The Doctor thought back to the numerous times the Sankta's explosive traps had saved his life or eliminated Reunion troops before they could get even an inch past the defensive line, equal parts grateful for the assistance and unnerved by the brutality of some of the traps. The Sankta scoffed, an unusual expression from someone as stoic and unfeeling looking as him.

"The notion of having an infinite supply of ordinance and ammunition for the things I do to ensure your safety is wishful thinking, Doctor. I simply make do with what I can acquire at the time" Executor's response answered one of the Doctor's questions and raised several more, the mental image of Executor foraging out in the wild and pulling a claymore mine from under a rock or a bundle of hand grenades from a shrub filling his mind. The Doctor shook his head to clear those thoughts, asking Executor another question right as the man was about to leave the room.

"Wait- where do you get them then?" The Sankta responded with another unusual gesture, turning around and putting a finger to his lips in a shushing motion.

"That, Doctor, is Classified Information I do not have the clearance to tell you about… yet…"

As the man left the room, closing the door behind him, the Doctor was simply left with more questions than before, imagination going wild with theories and hypotheses that grew more and more unusual the more he thought of them.

======[Line Break]======

Parental

Executor stared down the Vulpo girl who's been under his care for some time now, the light above him casting shadows over his expression in an intimidating way. Or at least, that's what it looked like to Vermeil.

"Vermeil, you understand that this is a matter of dire importance, yes?"

"No!" Vermeil responded by crossing her arms and shaking her head petulantly. The Sankta was undeterred by that response, simply leaning forward just an inch more, making the girl flinch for just a second.

"Vermeil, I will say it one more time-"

"Don't wanna!" She interrupted, leaning away and turning up her nose. Wordlessly, the Sankta raised something in his hand and without even a second's hesitation he stabbed down-

-at a clump of lettuce, lightly covered in salad dressing. He raised the utensil in his hand, a fork, and held it up to Vermeil's face, the girl still keeping her face turned away as much as possible from the foul greenery.

"Eat your vegetables, Vermeil. You understand the importance of a balanced diet means that you must consume something other than meat all the time" The plucky Vulpo responded by turning around in her seat until she had her back to Executor and his forkful of veggie stir fry and shook her head vehemently. Executor sighed, sitting back up in his seat, setting his face into a stern look accompanied by a tone of admonishment to his voice. "Very well then, if you refuse to eat your vegetables then I will refrain from feeding you in the future". The girl's tail and ears perked up, almost excited looking until he continued. "However, that also means I will stop cooking you your favorite Honey Roast Ham in the future as well". She sat stock still, tail frozen and ears pointed straight up in shock for a moment before she drooped down, turning around in her seat until she was once again facing Executor, a glum, reluctant look of acceptance on her face.

"Fine… I'll eat the stupid green stuff…" Executor raised the fork to her face and she begrudgingly took a bite out of the lettuce and grumpily chewed on it, ignoring the strangely pleased air that hung about her caretaker despite the lack of any changes to his expression.

Across from their table in the cafeteria, seated with the rest of her team, Orchid hummed as she observed the pair. Catapult snickered at their antics, getting the liberi's attention.

"Something funny, Catapult?" The grenadier allowed her snickering to pitter out into a sigh as she rested her head on one hand.

"Those two are just straight up like a father and child sometimes aren't they?" She gestured with her other hand, a faint smile on her face. Orchid looked back at the Sankta and Vulpo, seeing Executor use a handkerchief to wipe away some rice that had gotten on Vermeil's cheeks much like a parent would, and she couldn't find it in herself to disagree on that idea.

======[Line Break]======

Gardening

Rhodes Island was a pharmaceutical company that employed people with a wide array of skills and professions. Some of them came from established factions and companies, while others, well, they just happened to be unfortunate enough to contract oripathy, but fortunate enough to end up at Rhodes and get their treatment in exchange for using their skills to help Rhodes as a whole.

In the cases of Podenco, Perfumer, Myrrh and other botanically inclined individuals at Rhodes, they assisted by running, caring for and maintaining the greenhouse and its varied collection of plantlife from all over Terra.

The Perro girl crouched down to water a group of potted plants under the sunlight refracted by the glass of the greenhouse, smiling and humming a tune as she doused them equally, making sure to water them all just enough so they could grow properly. Stopping to scrutinize them for a minute she nodded to herself and stood up, moving to refill her watering can and water the rest of the plants on that particular corner of the greenhouse when she bumped into something. She stumbled backwards and nearly fell over when a strong arm reached over and caught her, helping her back up to a standing position. She shook her head, looking up to thank the person who helped her.

"O-oh! Thank you-"

She found her words catching in her throat as she realized just who she'd bumped into. Practically towering over her, without his blades or his usual jacket, was Flamebringer. Normally, he'd be an intimidating sight to many other operators, the younger ones especially. But for Podenco

"Oh! Mister Flamebringer! You're here! I thought you were on a mission." The younger girl was visibly happy at the sight of the Sarkaz, her tail wagging in joy as Flamebringer chuckled and stepped around her to put down a pot of flowers he'd been holding.

"Yeah, I was on a mission. But things ended up going better than expected thanks to the Doctor's plans and we got back earlier than expected" The Sarkaz took a moment to neatly arrange the flowers in the pot, plucking stray weeds that had sprouted in the soil. Podenco handed him a now refilled watering can, letting him take it and lightly shower the flower with water. She crouched beside him to watch as the little flowers in the pot seemed to get more stout and vibrant as the soil it was in absorbed the water, the Perro girl's eyes practically sparkling in admiration as the dark purple outer coloring of the flower buds faded to an almost flaming red hue as they caught the noontime sun's light, fully unfurling into beautiful flowers that left Podenco almost speechless.

"Waaah! Their growing so quickly! And they're so pretty!" Podenco said, daintily and carefully cupping one of the flowers in her hands and admiring it. Flamebringer chuckled as he stood up, looking down at the flowers with a small hint of pride in his eyes.

"You like'em? Their a special breed I got from Victoria on my travels" He pulled out a packet of something from his pocket, though it was less a packet and more of a plastic baggy labeled "Flower Seeds" written using a sharpie, and handed it to Podenco. "Never really had the time to plant them 'till now, and I feel like you'd do a much better job growing more of'em than I did". Podenco accepted the plastic bag with an almost reverent air, her tail wagging so fast that Flamebringer was almost worried that she'd take off and start flying from it. "Uh- Hey, kid, you alright there-"

Of course, his worries were for naught as Podenco suddenly jumped up and caught him in a hug, forcing him to stumble back in surprise.

"Thank you Mister Flamebringer! I promise I'll make these grow big and bright just like the ones you've grown!" Flamebringer chuckled, ruffling her head as she nuzzled her cheek into his midsection in an affectionate manner. Shortly after that, Podenco was listening with rapt attention to Flamebringer as he explained to her what he knew of caring for these flowers, "Victorian Noonblooms", they were called. Further away from them, watching them from another part of the Greenhouse, Perfumer giggled, catching the attention of Myrrh, who was assisting her with watering the plants.

"Miss Perfumer? Is something funny?" The younger vulpo girl asked, curious. Perfumer sighed in content and returned to checking off boxes on the clipboard she carried, noting down the plants around her that were in need of more watering and care compared to the others.

"Nothing, Myrrh, just amused how often some people have the most unexpected hobbies~"

======[Line Break]======

**Ayyy, my muse happened to hang around enough to let me write this chapter out. Hopefully it stays around long enough to help me write the next chapter of On-Site Shenanigans too... hopefully... maybe...**

**_Curse you and how fickle and fleeting you can be, my cursed inspiration._**

**Aaaanyway. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. More coming whenever. Watch yourselves out there, and take care**


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